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Kitty Calash

~ Confessions of a Known Bonnet-Wearer

Kitty Calash

Tag Archives: 1790s

Frivolous Friday: The Romps

19 Friday Sep 2014

Posted by kittycalash in Frivolous Friday, Living History, Museums

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

1790s, BBC Your Paintings, children, fashion, Frivolous Friday, historic interiors, paintings, play, style, What Cheer Day

The Romps, by William Redmore Biggs. (c) Leeds Museums and Galleries (book); Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation

The Romps, by William Redmore Biggs.
(c) Leeds Museums and Galleries

What Cheer Day is around the corner, and while we won’t have the delight of the babies this time, when browsing the BBC’s Your Paintings site, I found this painting by William Redmore Biggs. It pretty well captures the level of activity I’d like to bring to the museum–or at least a level just short of spilled ink.

As always, I’m looking for what working women wore, and in this image, I think we see the mistress of a dame school with her charges, who have clearly been romping in earnest.

The details abound, from the portfolio on the mantle to the baize on the floor and the ink spots on the little girls apron. The room is simply furnished, but we get a sense of domestic and dress details. The shortest girl in the front trio is disheveled, her sash undone and her gown slipping from her shoulders. (What a romp they’ve had!)

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Not by Half (robes)

12 Friday Sep 2014

Posted by kittycalash in Clothing, Research

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Tags

1790s, 18th century clothing, common dress, common people, Costumes, costuming, engravings, half robes

two ladies looking out a window in 1790s garments

The Frail Sisters, 12 May 1794. British Museum, 2010,7081.1077

Here’s the British Museum’s description of this print: “Two young women dressed in fine clothes in a room with decorated wallpaper, one sitting in front of the window looking onto the street, with a pet squirrel on her lap, turning to smile towards the viewer and pointing at herself, while the other stands behind her chair on the right. 12 May 1794.” It’s good to get the pet squirrel question out of the way.

This is another print that’s hard for us to read completely: you might wonder why they’re called the Frail sisters. Is Frail a proper noun, an adjective, or something else? It’s probably code: frail here may well refer to the strength of their morals rather than their biceps.

he frail sisters John Raphael Smith (1752-1812) Chalk (black and coloured) on paper (given a light grey ground) Height: 19.4 cm (circular); Acquisition Witt, Robert Clermont (Sir); bequest; 1952 D.1952.RW.4037, Copyright: © The Samuel Courtauld Trust, The Courtauld Gallery, London

The frail sisters
John Raphael Smith (1752-1812)
Chalk (black and coloured) on paper (given a light grey ground) Height: 19.4 cm (circular);
Witt, Robert Clermont (Sir); bequest; 1952
D.1952.RW.4037, Copyright: © The Samuel Courtauld Trust, The Courtauld Gallery, London

There’s another Frail Sisters drawing, also 18th century, probably late 1780s-early 1790s. This is appears to be a ‘straight’ drawing, but I don’t know: it could be an artist’s portrait of three prostitutes at play. Or it could be actresses (they weren’t so very far from prostitutes and courtesans).

Mrs Frail appears in William Congreve’s Love for Love; do these images also reference characters first seen in Restoration comedies? This is stuff I haven’t thought about in a long time, so I can’t yet unpack how the title and meaning of the print relate to what the women are wearing. And I might be over-thinking things a bit, so let’s step back and just look.

What is the standing sister wearing?

A half-robe, indoors. Time of day, indeterminate, but perhaps morning.

The Farmer's Door. George Morland, London: Published by J. R. Smith, King Street, Covent Garden, Aug. 4, 1790

The Farmer’s Door. George Morland, London: Published by J. R. Smith, King Street, Covent Garden, Aug. 4, 1790

A somewhat easier image to read is the print after George Morland’s The Farmer’s Door, from 1790. This genre painting presents the romanticized vision of humble life, with the farmer’s wife and her children (note the blue stays on the seated child).

Is the farmer’s wife wearing a half-robe over a quilted petticoat and apron? The quality of the images I can find is poor, and the coloring questionable.

In another version here, the kerchief is clearer and seems to go over a long-sleeved garment with a short skirt.

Selling Carrots by George Morland Date painted: 1795 Oil on canvas, 76 x 63.5 cm Collection: Brighton and Hove Museums and Art Galleries

Selling Carrots
by George Morland
Date painted: 1795
Oil on canvas, 76 x 63.5 cm
Collection: Brighton and Hove Museums and Art Galleries

In Selling Carrots, there is another short-skirted garment with long sleeves worn over a petticoat and with a kerchief.

Without getting overly distracted by titles and meaning, I think there are clues to how these half-robes or jackets are worn by women of different classes, aspirations, and locations. For rural women who are not gentry, these appear to be comfortable working clothes worn all day. For urban women, they seem to be worn early in the day, and sometimes out of doors, perhaps even to the lending library.

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